Sunday, May 27, 2018

After a tragic riding accident, young cowboy Brady (Brady Jandreau), once a rising star of the rodeo circuit, is warned that his competition days are over. Back home, Brady
finds himself wondering what he has to live for when he can no longer
do what gives him a sense of purpose: to ride and compete. In an attempt
to regain control of his fate, Brady searches for a new identity.

This is loosely based on Brady Jandreau's own story. The movie is
haunting and captivating. All of the actors are from the Pine Ridge
Reservation. Trailer and Background.

Saturday, May 26, 2018

This is a delightful movie about a tough topic. For a precis, see Wikipedia. "26-year-old Louisa Clark is a happy, outgoing woman who lives with and supports her
working-class family. After losing her job at a local cafe, she is hired
as the caregiver of Will Traynor,
a former successful banker and once active young man who became
paralyzed after being involved in a motorcycle accident two years prior.
Louisa has no experience but Will's mother believes her cheery
personality will help lift his spirits. Will only spends time with
Nathan, his nurse, who assists with his care, exercise and movement and
knows that he will never regain use of his body due to the damage to his
spinal cord."

I saw it on Amazon Prime. I have not read the book, but it may be even more important.

Sunday, November 19, 2017

This is a moving, touching, funny film about a 10 year-old boy with a congenital facial deformity. Although the name of his disorder is not given in the film, it is most likely Treacher-Collins syndrome. It could be about Apert syndrome or any child with facial deformities.The story is told with great sensitivity; you'll laugh and tear up alternately. It that rare movie that will appeal to all ages.

Thursday, July 27, 2017

This is an important movie that deals with diversity, cultural issues, health and health care. It is the true story of a Pakistani-American stand-up comedian and his writer girlfriend (pictured below) who develops adult Still's disease. (~ 2 hours)

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Kumail (Kumail Nanjiani), in the middle of becoming a
budding stand-up comedian, meets Emily (Zoe Kazan). Meanwhile, a sudden illness
sets in forcing Emily to be put into a medically-induced coma. Kumail must
navigate being a comedian, dealing with tragic illness, and placating his
family's desire to let them fix him up with a spouse, while contemplating and
figuring out who he really is and what he truly believes.p with a spouse, while
contemplating and figuring out who he really is and what he truly believes.

Sunday, June 18, 2017

(from The Guardian 12 May 2016) With this movie Ken Loach
establishes himself yet further as the John Bunyan of contemporary British
cinema. Based on research and interviews by the screenwriter Paul Laverty, this
movie tells the fictional story of Daniel Blake, a middle-aged widower in the
North East (of England) who can’t work or get benefits after a near-fatal heart
attack, and the story is told with stark and fierce plainness: unadorned,
unapologetic, even unevolved. Loach’s movie offends against the tacitly accepted
rules of sophisticated good taste: subtlety, irony and indirection. The film is
not objective, and perhaps Loach and Laverty have signed up to Churchill’s
maxim about refusing to be neutral between the fire brigade and the fire…

This is a powerfully affecting movie.Set in the U.K. it is pertinent for audiences
in other countries as well.The movie is
sober, infuriating and sad.Practicing
medicine in the U.S., I can resonate with the maddening bureaucracy. Physicians
are almost nowhere to be seen here.It
seems like no one was running interference for Daniel Blake.That may well be the way it usually is.

Sunday, June 4, 2017

Charged, a feature length documentary film, tells the story
of Eduardo Garcia who was as shocked with 2400 volts of electricity in a freak
incident deep in Montana’s backcountry. Near death, alone and miles from help,
Eduardo got up and took his first step towards what would ultimately be years
of recovery and rehabilitation.

When Eduardo arrived at Salt Lake City’s Burn Trauma ICU,
doctors said he was a dead man with a heartbeat. During the course of his
recovery, Eduardo spent 48 days in the ICU. He had nine severe exit wounds and
underwent 21 surgeries, which included the removal of four ribs and cutting
away destroyed muscle mass from his torso, legs, arms and scalp. Doctors tried
to save Eduardo’s left hand, but, when it came down to life or limb, they had
to amputate the chef's hand and forearm…